Womens' purses are typically provided with a spring-loaded jaw which is manually pried open to open the purse and which snaps shut to close the purse when released. Even when opened, however, the interior of the purse is typically dark. This renders it difficult to locate objects such as makeup, lipstick and other items, especially when the purse is opened inside poorly-illuminated buildings.
While mail is typically delivered during daylight hours in the United States, persons may retrieve mail from their mailboxes in the late evening, during hours of darkness. Consequently, it is frequently necessary to hand-feel the dark mailbox interior to ensure that all the delivered mail has been retrieved from the mailbox. This, however, has limitations since important mail-delivered notices such as those appearing on flat postcards or sheets of paper can evade detection by feel and thus, inadvertently remain in the mailbox. Moreover, many persons are reluctant to thrust their hands into dark mailboxes for fear of striking sharp objects or unwittingly encountering spiders or insects.
Accordingly, a multi-purpose light is needed which can be removably attached to the interior of a purse, mailbox or other enclosure to facilitate selectively or automatically lighting the enclosure interior when opened.